The Star: July 05, 2018

Colombo Street
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The Star CELEBRATING 150 YEARS 1868 – 2018
7
Connecting Christchurch
for 150 years
Newsroom backed Forbes
over sack Muldoon call
MICHAEL FORBES, who spent nearly 50 years in
newspapers, attracted national attention in 1978. As
the editor of the Christchurch Star he took on the then
Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon.
“Sack Muldoon,” he wrote in an editorial. “Mr
Muldoon has to go - and the sooner the better for New
Zealand’s future wellbeing.”
It was advice the pugnacious Prime Minister, then part
way through his 1975-84 tenure, was not used to hearing.
And it did not help Forbes’ reputation with National
supporters that his alternative leader was the maverick
Hamilton Member of Parliament Mike Minogue.
Not surprisingly, Muldoon did not go. But Forbes
did resign from the paper he had begun his career with
20 years earlier in the reporters room. The NZ News
chairman, Mr G.T. Upton announced at the company’s
annual meeting in Auckland that Forbes’ resignation was
regretted. Forbes had decided to look farther afield while
he was still young.
The matter was raised in Parliament. There were
allegations of political influence being used, and denials.
A staff meeting of 400 Star employees voted to ask the
board to invite Forbes to withdraw his resignation. Staff
took a strong hand in the matter. They were backing their
editor. The company listened and relented and four days
later Forbes announced he was again editor.
The later career of Michael Forbes, including as
managing editor, chief executive and managing director
of New Zealand News, was somewhat coloured by the
declining fortunes of afternoon newspapers. And he was
clearly upset when the briefly published morning daily
the Auckland Sun, which he conceived and launched as
New Zealand’s first new daily newspaper in 30 years, was
closed ahead of the also struggling Auckland Star.
He retired in 1998 after 3 1/2 years as editor of the
Sunday Star-Times, writing a personal letter to each of
the staff and having touched the lives of hundreds of
journalists.
Forbes, who had been had been in ill health for some
years, died in 2006, aged 73.
Those vital
deliveries
The
enduring
City2Surf
THE STAR’S City2Surf has been
Christchurch’s iconic fun run since the mid
1970s.
For decades thousands of people each year
have pounded the pavements, pushed children
in prams and walked the route from Cathedral
Square to Queen Elizabeth 2 Park, and in later
years from Centennial Park in Spreydon to
Ferrymead Historic Park.
The route was changed after the February
2011 earthquake.
Many Canterbury charities have benefited
from funds raised by the City2Surf.
14KM START
Centennial
Park
SPREYDON
Barrington Street
CASHMERE
Wilsons Road
OPAWA
Hansens
Park
Grange Street
Water
Toilets
Port Hills Road
Ferry Road
‘the route itself was extremely beautiful and show-cased
some under-appreciated parts of Christchurch’
‘fun warm up at the start gets everyone in a good
mood and settles the nerves of some people’
FERRYMEAD
FINISH
‘the amount of people creating
an awesome atmosphere’
Ferrymead
Playing
Fields
YOU CAN put out the best newspaper in the world.
But it’s not much good if it doesn’t get delivered to the
people who want to read it.
That newspaper adage has never changed.
This photo of Bert Empson was of him working as
a casual in the circulation department - at the spritely
age of 80.
Bert had been in the newspaper delivery business for
53 years at the time.
He started in 1918 (aged 27) as a runner on the
Lyttelton Times and moved to the Star Sun - a
product merger of the city’s newspapers during a
major shake-up in the industry in 1935.
Bert would collect his quota of 750 papers from
the office daily, 400 on his back, the remainder in
the basket of his bike, and he would drop them
off in lots on the street corners.
Then he would go back and deliver
them.
Bert’s round was 15 miles (24kms)
and he clocked 7436 miles (11967kms)
in one six month period - according to
the speedometer on his bike.
The South
brothers
THESE TWINS were a familiar sight at
The Star for decades.
This shot was taken in 1980 when
they were 62 shows Vern South
(right) recovering from a fall. His
brother Halsey, who was about
10 minutes younger, was too
recovering from injury, a broken
leg which happened also after a
fall.
Vern started with the paper in
1931, Halsey about two years later.
They spent a lot of their time with
the circulation department.
The twins were well-known
throughout Christchurch.
Halsey was in the 18th Armoured
Division, tanks Corps, in Italy
during World war 2.